Labrador City and Wabush in a stink over raw sewage

Anyone who flushes a toilet in Wabush causes raw sewagewith no treatment or separationto empty into a nearby lake,and neighbouringLabrador City is not impressed.

Labrador City Mayor Karen Oldford says sheknew Wabush was having problems with its sewage, but she didn't know how bad it was.

Sewage from theWabushIndustrial Park already flowsinto the lake. Abroken part has stopped the separation of residential waste. So everything is going into the lake.

"We knew they were having issues with capacity and we knew that they needed a new sewage treatment facility," said Oldford. "But we didn't realize all the raw sewage from the community was already going into the lake system."

Wabush Mayor Colin Vardy said the town's always been open about its problems with waste.

Provincial standards for sewage treatment

Oldford believes Wabush isn't being held to provincial standards for its lack of sewage treatment.

"We had to fill out reams of paperwork to go on bypass for a few hours," says Oldford. "So we're just trying to understand how that happens when you have other municipalities that are sending raw sewage there everyday."

Labrador City has asked the provincial government to monitor the situation. The city has also asked if there's a plan in place to curtail development in Wabush.

But Vardy said such a plan would hurt the town given the recent idling of Wabush Mines.

"We still have people that want to develop in Wabush," said Vardy. "To ask the government to curtail development in Wabush is not acceptable."

Vardy says new development projects will have to build their own septic systems. The town will spend $200,000 to implement a mechanical separation of sewage.